~900 - ~400 BC
Dawning of the Iron Age: the Celts arrive . . .
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Bronze Age "gives way" to Iron (or more correctly, enhanced by the latter) . . . Celtic 'invasion' (or more probably incursion) from the continent (very roughly from ~500 or 600BC) . . . bring knowledge of Iron working . . . by end 5th century BC, Celtic tribes dominant . . . more of the heavier land brought under the (two -ox) plough . . . square Celtic field system . . . increased trade links with continent (both old 'celtic' homelands & traders from Mediterranean) . . . building of major (large) hill forts . . . more ordered farm & family life . . . powerful leaders hold sway by conquest . . . recognisable settlements or hamlets . . . Druidic influence great . . . major increase in population . . .
Warm, dry at first in southeast, but already wetter / cooler / (?windier) north & west * tending to turn wetter, less settled everywhere, and probably cooler * trackway building * woodland in retreat from NW coastal areas * increased storminess / temperature extremes. Between roughly 500 & 800 BC, many upland peat bogs from mid-Wales to NW England grew more rapidly than any time thereafter * tree-lines descending from high levels of the Sub-Boreal * by 500 BC, generally cooler & wetter (& windier).				Weather Log
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